Charging Etiquette

[Mhycki]

I am wondering about destination chargers at hotels .... if one is staying at a hotel with a destination charger .. is it ok to leave car plugged in all night ?

Thanks

Mike

 

[Don TLR]

Iv'e left mine plugged in with a note saying contact me if you really need a charge..

 

[Wooloomooloo]

I am wondering about destination chargers at hotels .... if one is staying at a hotel with a destination charger .. is it ok to leave car plugged in all night ?

Thanks

Mike

Yes, in fact that's kind of the idea. I'd call the hotel ahead of time and ask them to cone the area off, otherwise it will almost certainly be ICE'ed, especially if you're arriving late, and most hotels don't have any signs next to their chargers asking people not to block them.

If you don't really need to charge but just are for convenience, then leave a note, but otherwise I wouldn't. If you arrive with 15% charge at 9pm and you get a call at 10pm from someone asking you to move so they can charge, it just becomes a negotiation about whose needs are greatest.

 

[ArcticStation]

I let the front desk know that we have an EV and to contact us if another guest needs access. I've always been able to successfully negotiate access with other EV drivers who have contacted us via the front desk. If I have a decent charge before we head to bed but no one is waiting to charge, I'll unplug and move the car anyway in case someone who needs to charge arrives later in the evening. This is usually the case because we like to arrive at the hotel early to avoid rush hour traffic, so by nine or ten o'clock, my car is normally charged to the limit I've set. And I'm almost always able to plug back in and top off in the morning if necessary. However, if we're ready for bed, there is no one waiting to charge and the charge still has hours to go, I'll leave it plugged in.

It drives me nuts when someone pulls in mid-afternoon, plugs in, doesn't leave contact information on the car or with the front desk and then leaves the car plugged in until their 2:00 PM late check out two or three days later! (This can be a real problem in large cities where folks leave their car parked at the hotel and get around using alternative transportation.) And DO ask the hotel to cone an EV spot prior to your arrival. Most have been very willing to do it for us and it saves ICE hassles later on.

 

[ucmndd]

Best option: move the car when you’re done charging.

Good option: leave a note on the car or at the front desk with contact info should someone else need the charger.

Bad option: Block the charger all night and assume no one else needs it.

 

[Akikiki]

wow. Lots of good ideas, good questions and good advice.

 

[stonelance]

I just charged at two destination chargers for the first time, so I also wasn't sure. The first night I arrived in the evening and was at less than 50% so I just left it plugged in all night without a note. There was one other Tesla charger and another 3rd party charger that were empty. Woke up to leave in the morning and they were both ICEd, although I'm not sure if there were any other spots available in the garage.

Arrived at our second hotel midday to one empty spot and only needed to charge a couple hours. Both the other Tesla charger and 3rd party charger spot were occupied. The one in the Tesla spot was actually hooked up to the other charger and the car in that chargers spot wasn't even charging. I went out to move my car an hour or so after it finished and found a model s blocking me and the car in the other Tesla spot, and was actually plugged into the otherwise unused tesla charger. Luckily the owner was nearby so I was able to move and let them in. All the other cars had been there since I arrived.

Not sure if this kind of stuff is normal or not.

 

[M3-Florida]

I stayed at a Hyatt over the weekend (6 Tesla chargers; 4 3rd party chargers) and was the only car parked in the charging area when I arrived. I did go out at 10PM (was not done charging yet) to see if by chance 5 more Tesla's had decided to show up.. but still the only one there so I left it plugged in.

On another note, while using PlugShare, I sometimes see Tesla chargers at businesses listed that one would not normally go to (insurance office, realty office, etc.). Would you charge there if there are comments from others saying they charged there?

 

[youngmcdonald]

It’d be so nice if a) PlugShare somehow Auto-checks us our ID in at a charging station and b) allows others to ping us through the app requesting the spot? I’d be happy to oblige!

 

[RedSafari]

It’d be so nice if a) PlugShare somehow Auto-checks us our ID in at a charging station and b) allows others to ping us through the app requesting the spot? I’d be happy to oblige!

That's exactly what the PlugShare app does. Once I arrived to a hotel late at night to find the sole destination charger being used by another Tesla. Luckily the owner had checked in on PlugShare. After messaging with them, we were able to work out sharing the charger.

 

[SDKoala]

I recently stayed at a hotel that had 2 Tesla chargers and 2 regular EV chargers that could be accessed by anyone. They were supposed to be for hotel guests, but no hotel parking permits were needed, no time limit was posted, and there was no enforcement according to the front desk staff. I had a view of the Tesla spots from my room and out of the 5 nights I was there, both spots were empty for 3 of them. On one night, a Model S parked overnight and on another night, there were two Model 3s all night. During the day, though, the both Tesla spots were occupied with cars charging, so people were either moving before the night, or they were being used by non-hotel guests during the day.

 

[youngmcdonald]

That's exactly what the PlugShare app does. Once I arrived to a hotel late at night to find the sole destination charger being used by another Tesla. Luckily the owner had checked in on PlugShare. After messaging with them, we were able to work out sharing the charger.

Oh! I am definitely a newbie to this then.